Shattered Glass
by Dearing
Summary: I could hear her. Before anyone else I could hear her. A pre-series story about Marie Parfacy, and a young teen who tried to help her escape her fate. Slight MariexOC. Mentions of AllelujahxMarie


This plotline came to me while I was out and about searching for work, and it actually stuck with me to the point I decided to get a notebook and jot it down. It's actually a fully original short story, but it was originally inspired by Gundam 00, and I didn't want it to get lost in the archives of Fiction Press, so I re-wrote it slightly to post it here. While reading, you have to remember this if you find any infomation that doesn't add up to the series (Save for the fact that a character that was never mentioned has suddenly appeared of course).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and I'll give you my author's notes at teh end as always.

* * *

I was too young to fall in love.

That's what my Father said. He'd always chuckle and laugh whenever one of his colleagues joked about it.

"He's only eight," he would say, "Far too small to make such a big mistake! Besides, it's not as if she can requite any supposed feelings…she can't even move, much less speak!!!"

I often remember hearing these snippets of conversations and smile to myself, my onyx haired head shaking in slight disbelief, knowing that as brilliant a scientist my Father was, he was very much wrong in at least one regard;

For you see I, at the very least, could hear her.

Strongest whenever I walked by her room, yet easily audible throughout the corridors of the medical facility within Space Colony Quanqui, I could hear her voice crying out for comfort, not with my ears, but with my mind.

My Father was right in one respect however; she really couldn't to anything physically, contained within a glass case amid the pristine white walls of the HRL's facility. She just lay there, day in, day out. Hands flat against the bottom, her pure white hair splayed out behind her head as her amber yellow eyes gazed blankly at the ceiling.

And yet all the while, her voice cried out to me.

Maybe it's because I'm a rarity amongst humans.

The place of my birth you see, wasn't a clean hospital or warm family room, but a passenger transport between Heaven's Pillar and Colony Quanqui. Born with cold hard vacuum mere metres away due to my Father's arrogance and eagerness to continue his work, my mother had always told me I was nonetheless a special human being, one who could quite literally say he was born amongst the stars; a true Spacenoid.

Regardless of the reasons behind it, the fact was clear: I knew it was _her_ voice, and that it hurt that I couldn't seem to reply.

It was like listening to a badly tuned radio: her voice was patchy and intermediate, and like a one way radio I had no way to reply to her calls.

I couldn't sooth her fears of loneliness, I couldn't tell her I could hear her pleas no matter how hard I tried to scream it in my head. My Father wouldn't even let me hold her hand in some vain hope she might realise she wasn't alone by my touch.

At least I knew her name: Marie Parfacy.

But then, when I turned ten years old, he heard her too.

One of my Father's many creations, I could hear him too with the same static-esque frequency as Marie.

Once more, I knew he could hear her…and reply.

As you can imagine, It didn't take long for the jealousy to set in.

I had heard her first, spent hours at a time by her side, trying to speak to her, be it out loud or silently within the corridors of my mind. Then this boy, wearing nothing but a hospital robe and a bandage around his head, his long brown hair falling into his face and covering his right eye, walks into her life, and in less then a minute the of them had struck up a decent conversation. She'd even given the amnesiac a name: Allelujah. A thanks to God that she had found someone to talk too.

That hurt me fare more then anything else.

Two years passed, and I watched their relationship grow behind tinted glass with my Father and his colleagues, listening with half an ear as the scientists talked about quantum brainwaves and the surprising responses Marie gave to the one they called Subject E-57.

Then…Allelujah disappeared.

I heard the rumours of course; there as a serious flaw in the E-Series Super soldiers my Father had been developing for the HRL. Something big enough to have the entire series disposed of.

I may not have _liked_ Allelujah. I may have even hated him for having something I had yearned for for so long, but the way my Father spoke, as though he and his brethren were merely broken merchandise needing to be thrown out with the trash, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

But for what he did to Marie, I would never forgive him.

He left her behind.

I could only assume there had probably been a multitude of reasons behind his decision; perhaps there hadn't been time to find her, maybe he and his comrades felt a body that didn't even move would only hold them back, maybe he even thought she'd have been taken better care of at the facility then on the run.

Whatever the reason, he left her alone. And when he did, only I could hear her desperate cries once more, and was still left unable to call out in return.

Sometimes she cried for Allelujah, other times she simply cried.

As the months went by however, I found myself trying other methods in my attempts to contact her.

I spent hours just talking to her, not trying to tell she wasn't alone, but about anything and everything. Just letting my voice fill her small room, hushed only when my Father or his colleagues passed by the glass doors or entered the observation room.

Her cries didn't stop, but I realised by my 13th birthday that they had become more and more intermittent, as though she was trying to listen to something she couldn't quite hear.

Gradually, I became even more daring. I would sneak out in the middle of the night, my hands pressed against her glass case, as though I was trying to reach through the thin pane to hold her hand and give her the comfort my Father wouldn't allow.

As I turned fourteen however, I uncovered the fate my Father had planned for little Marie.

A mind wipe. A completely new personality. A procedure that would erase all traces of Marie from her body. At least, that was how my Father explained it too me.

"It will be like her condition never existed," he said, "She'll be able to talk and move and feel like a normal person. You should be happy for her,"

And I was…initially.

Then I learned of what this new personality would entail…discreetly of course.

She would not be Marie. She would become Super Solider Number One, a being of war. A future filled with conflict and strife awaited her.

She would no longer be Marie Parfacy, she would only be Soma Peries.

I…didn't want that.

Maybe I was being selfish. Maybe I was being rash and self centred, but I felt that such a life wasn't worth the benefits that came with this new personality.

So…I made a decision.

It was dark, almost midnight., a definite chill in the air that came when the colony turned her mirrors to the darkness of space.

Tracing a path I must have walked a hundred thousand times before, I ran with silent steps across courtyards and through the corridors of my Father's building, my dark green eyes darting from left to right as I avoided cameras and security guards dressed in uniforms of emerald.

Even now, I only had half a plan developed in my mind. I knew how to get in, it was getting out that presented the problem. After all, running by myself was one thing, running with a young girl on my back was another, and sure to slow me down.

But I had to try.

For Marie.

I wasn't surprised to find her observation room to be empty. My Father and his colleagues were more then willing to let the lab's supercomputer watch over their precious specimen.

I switched off the cameras, if anything to make myself feel more at ease, and raised the protective covering that was usually lowered into place, before heading into Marie's Room.

She lay silently, as always, within her simple glass case, wires attached to her pale skin, her voice crying out within the depths of my mind.

"_Is someone there? Please answer me…Allelujah? Allelujah!"_

"Yes…I can hear you…" My voice was quiet, barely a whisper, but I screamed the words loud an desperately within my mind, "I can hear you…Marie Parfacy,"

Her voice…quietened.

"_Whose there?"_

I blinked in surprise. Had she just replied?

"_Who are you?"_ her question was direct now, hitting the nail home, _"You're not Allelujah…"_

"No…no I'm not," my throat was dry, my mind hardly daring to comprehend what I was doing. I was…_talking_ with Marie. Even her voice seemed far clearer then any time I could recall before this moment, "He…had to go. My Father was going to kill him and several others,"

Another pause followed.

"_Why?"_

"I don't know. At least I don't know the details," I felt slightly jealous. I could finally talk with Marie, just as I had always wanted too, and all I could discuss was that damned Allelujah, "I overheard something about him being defective in some way bit…" I trailed off as I came to a conclusion, "But now isn't the time to talk about that. I have to get you out of here,"

"_Why?"_ a pang of fear was laced through her words, _"Am…Am I defective too?"_

"To an extent," I felt my hand clench into a fist at my side, "They're tired of watching you just lie here, but don't worry, I've come to get you out of here,"

"_Out of here?"_

"A rescue. I'm going to take you away from this place. Their way of helping you…is to kill Marie and give the body a new personality,"

"_I don't want to die,"_

"And I won't let you,"

Slowly, I fished a hammer from my belt and raised it above my head, my eyes focused on a spot near her middle to ensure no glass would fall into her vacant amber eyes.

From this moment forward there would be no turning back. Even now, with the hammer held high, I could easily back out and go home, leaving Marie to her fate…

But the hammer came down.

As the glass shattered, alarm bells shrieked into life, fragments of fractured case falling across her small frame as I enlarged the opening and ripped the wires from her body.

She was…lighter then I thought she would be, her small frame easily pulled from the remains of the case, her amber eyes closing like a doll's as her head lolled against my shoulder.

"_So…warm…"_

I didn't understand what was going on here. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had changed. She could speak to me, she could feel my body heat…it was almost as though she was waking up.

No, something had changed: my resolve. My determination to free Marie and get her away from this terrible place. Was that all I needed to have done? Not force and scream my thoughts inside my mind, but a drive to see her safe?

But now wasn't the time for such debates. Already as I shifted Marie onto my back, I knew the guards would be bearing down on us at any moment. And so, after making sure her limp form was secure, I took off at a run through the corridors in a bid for freedom,

But as I suspected, it didn't take me long to run into security, and even less time to start running from _them_.

Bullets cracked past my ear and ricocheted off the walls around us, our attackers seemingly indifferent as to if they hit Marie or not. They just wanted to make sure she never left this place as Marie Parfacy.

"_What's going on? I hear noises,"_

She _was_ waking up. Her heart was beating faster against my back, her cool breath seemed to flow more normally, ever her arms seemed to tense around my neck as a particularly close shot flew past her head.

She was waking up. Not through the science that made her this way, but through a method I could never understand.

Awakening…as Marie.

My determination only increased. I had to get her away from here. Away from the complex, away from Quanqui. Hell, away from the HRL if I could manage it. It would be hard at first, but I would pull through…for her.

Then…the shot came.

White hot agony sliced through my leg as my kneecap shattered, a second bullet embedding itself in my shoulder with a spray of blood as I tumbled to the floor, Marie falling away in the process.

As pain hazed every nerve in my body, I dragged myself over to where she lay prone as my attacker approached us calmly, pistol raised.

"You know, I always expected some weak-hearted colleague or glory hoarding bastard might try to steal this project away from here," my Father's voice was cold and calm, "I never dreamed it would be you though,"

"She…she doesn't need the mind-wipe," my own voice was hard and cracked, every syllable forced yet weak, "She's waking up. Look at her!"

It was plain for all to see now. Little Marie, flecked in blood…my blood, shifted slightly before our eyes, her mouth opening and closing as she gasped for air.

"Look at her!" I reached out for her with a bloody hand, grasping for her own pale limb, "You don't have to kill her! She can live again as Marie!"

"You fool," my Father snorted, "If that's the case, we must commence the mind-wipe even sooner then expected,"

"What!?"

"Marie Parfacy is weak and frail. She will never become the Super-Soldier we need her to be. If this institute is to go on, Marie Parfacy must die, and Soma Peries must take her place,"

"That's…that's all she is to you? My eyes widened as I pulled Marie's body closer to me, "Some…prototype that you need to mass-produce?"

"She will be so much more then a mere prototype boy," my Father grinned triumphantly, "She will become the Ultimate Super-Soldier! A perfect mobile suit pilot who will be able to smash through a battlefield unopposed! But the mind of Marie Parfacy is weak and spineless. She would never survive the training, let alone the first battle. Her mind must be wiped so a new stronger personality can take her place. She will be the first of hundreds…perhaps thousands…"

"You're going to kill her!" Right now, my anger was the only thing keeping me going, "You can't justify this in any way! You're nothing more then a soulless murderer!"

"Maybe," my father cracked a grin as the sound of heavy footfalls rounded the far off corner, "But if this murder will further the Super-Soldier project and potentially save the lives of countless innocent people…so be it. Now, are you going to give up quietly, so we can blame this unfortunate incident on mis-information, or are you going to cling to your petty morality?"

I didn't reply, I was in too much pain. Every joint and muscle felt as though it had been set aflame. Every heartbeat felt like acid was being pumped through my veins.

With waning strength, I slowly pulled Marie closer still and gathered her up in my bloodied arms, holding her tight against me.

"I'm sorry," my voice was a bare murmur in her ear, "I tried but…I couldn't save you…"

I was bleeding profoundly from my wounds now. The bandages they had wrapped around her quickly staining themselves red as I pulled her closer.

"_Am…Am I going to die?"_ her voice was quiet and scared in my head.

"_I don't know,"_ those heavy footsteps were now drawing closer with every breath, "I hope not but…I can't really say for sure,"

The footfalls came to a halt nearby, my Father's voice sounding faint and muffled in my ears.

"_You tried,"_ in my mind, I could almost see her smile, _"And…I'm grateful for that. Thank you,"_

If I wasn't in so much pain, I might have cried.

I had failed. I'd tried to save her and I'd failed completely, totally.

There was, however, one last chance.

"Listen," the voices above us seemed to die to dull whispers as I held her tight, "No matter what happens, no matter what they do to you…don't forget me,"

"_What?"_

"Don't forget me," rough gloved hands tried to pulls us apart, but I held fast, "No matter what they do, don't forget me. Don't forget my voice, my actions, or what I did for you, understand?" the hands pulled harder as I felt my grip slip, "Don't let them make you forget me. Remember me!" I shouted for all I was worth as we were pried apart kicking and screaming as I was pulled down the corridor by at least half a dozen different hands, "DON'T FORGET ME! MARIE PARFACY!!!"

And as the darkness clouded in around me, I saw it.

As doctors and security officers dragged my away and my world went silent, I saw Marie turn her head towards me…and smile.

And as the darkness enshrouded me, and the pain ebbed away for a while, her voice echoed through the corridors of my mind for a final time:

"_I will never forget you…Jacob Haptism._

_I swear it,"_

* * *

And so…here I was; adrift in space, with only a skin tight normal suit to seal my wounds.

They had blown me out an airlock you see. So intent was my Father to insure there was no witness to stand against him.

Now, I could only hope my last desperate plan to save Marie worked, one last defiance I suppose.

I supposed it was selfish, telling her not to forget me, when her time and conversations with Allelujah would no doubt be far easier to remember.

Then again, she knew my name without me ever telling her in the conversations we had actually had. Perhaps I _had_ gotten through to her before all those years ago, if only on a subconscious level.

But none of that mattered now.

Now I was alone in the starry void; a trillion points of light my only companions. I couldn't really say how long it had been since I'd left Quanqui behind. It might have been a few minutes, it might even have been a few hours. All I knew was the Colony was lost from my sight, and the orb of the Moon dominated my vision on occasion as I spun through the starry void.

My pain was hazy, my vision clouded and dark. My brief life was coming to an end and I could feel it fading away with every breath.

"Marie…"

As darkness clouded my mind, and my senses went numb, I could really do nothing but sigh with content as I saw her smiling face before me, my Marie Parfacy, as she seemed to reach out to my broken form, framed by the bone white moon, and carried on wings of blazing green light.

"Ah…My beautiful Marie…"

**THE END**

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As you might have guessed, I've tried to give Jacob something akin to Newtype abilities similair to those seen in the first Gundam series...or at least how Newtype abilities are seen in the novelisation (I've only actually started seeing the begining of the first series resently) I've always felt that Super-soldiers like Marie and Allelujah were similair to the Cyber-Newtypes of the Universal Century, which is where I got the idea from intially to have Jacob as a Newtype.

I've probably got the timing of years and such screwed up. Unlike the Cosmic and Universal Century universes, I've yet to find a real Anno Domini universe timeline, so I basically made a guess for the purpose of litracy entertainment.

Jacob's father is the same scientist who speaks with Sergi during the series (the one with goggles over his eyes). He might be a bit OC here, but his character had so little background it made him an easy character to use.

Jacob's last name of Haptism comes from teh fact I think Marie only gave Allelujah his first name, and he chose his last. Seeing as he's an amnesiac, I would assume he took the cheif scientist (Jacob's father) name because he didn't know of any others. I'm not sure if the scientist in the series actually had a name, but for the sake of the story, I'm going to go with this.

Lastly, as I was re-writing this for the Gundam 00 crowd, I had a sudden inspiration for an intergration fic based on this story, but with ZAFT's Archangel my primary secondary work (with A.V.A.T.A.R.: Hunt for the the Courier as my primary primary work as well as my various original attempts taking my spare time), it's up the air as to if I'll ever write it down. As such, I'll leave it up to you if you think Jacob was saved or if he was suffering from one last hullucination.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews always appreciated, but no flames please.

Thanks for reading,

Dearing


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